Saturday, February 19, 2011

Libyan forces have reportedly opened fire at a funeral in the eastern city of Benghazi, killing at least 15 people and injuring scores more as protests against Muammar Gaddafi, the country's long-time ruler, continued.
The victims on Saturday were mourning the loss of protesters who had been killed during anti-government demonstrations in the city during the past week, witnesses told Al Jazeera.Reports of the deaths came after Human Rights Watch said earlier on Saturday that 84 people had died over the past three days.
A doctor in Benghazi told Al Jazeera that he had seen 70 bodies at the city's hospital on Friday."I have seen it on my own eyes: At least 70 bodies at the hospital," Wuwufaq al-Zuwail, a physician, said. Al-Zuwail said that security forces had also prevented ambulances reaching the site of the protests.
Ahmed, a businessman and resident of Benghazi who declined to give his real name for his own safety, told Al Jazeera that hospitals in the city were overwhelmed with the number of dead and injured and were running out of blood."It's a big, big massacre. We've never heard of anything like this before. It's horrible," he said.